Terren Scott Peizer (born July 31, 1959) is an American businessperson who was convicted of insider trading and securities fraud.
[1][8][9] At the conclusion of a nine-day trial in June 2024, a California federal jury found him guilty of three counts of insider trading and securities fraud.
[34] In June 1991, Peizer purchased $3.5 million of convertible debentures from Candies, Inc. (formerly known as Millfeld Trading Co.; a shoe importing and marketing business), and became a director of the company.
[35] Peizer purchased an interest of over 50% in Urethane Technologies, a small-cap company which manufactured and sold a bicycle tire that it claimed would not go flat, and named himself Chairman.
The company was a debt collection agency Ponzi scheme founded by fraudster Steven Hoffenberg, with which Jeffrey Epstein was involved.
[18][40][41] Peizer purchased an interest in Advanced Promotion Technologies, which manufactured electronic barcode coupon machines for checkout lines.
[44][45] The money that was raised allowed Tera to later buy the remains of Cray Research, and Peizer was its chairman and a director from 1999 to 2000.
[49] In 2004, Peizer founded Hythiam Inc., a tiny pharmaceutical company, from which in 2006 when he was majority shareholder he received $1.3 million in compensation.
[52] Despite the fact that no placebo-controlled or double-blind study or peer-reviewed publication of its "Prometa" (the marketing name for Gabasync) approach had been undertaken, and although no FDA approval had been obtained, Hythiam advertised the "innovative, medically based treatment" (which could cost $15,000 per patient) and franchised doctors to use Prometa, in exchange for a per-patient fee.
[58][59][better source needed][60] According to independent investment research firm Morningstar: "Over the long haul, this company has posted some of its industry's worst returns on assets.
[66][61] In March 2021, Peizer became the controlling shareholder and board Executive Chairman of EVmo, a technology-enabled fleet management and rental company, which had a share price of $5.45 the prior month.
[67][68][69] He resigned as EVmo Chairman on February 17, 2023, as the company defaulted on a $7.5 million loan, and its stock price had declined to $0.17 per share.
[73] On March 1, 2023, after an FBI investigation, Peizer was charged with insider trading by the SEC, which alleged that he sold $20 million of Ontrak Inc. stock in 2021 while he was in possession of material nonpublic negative information related to the company's largest customer.
[8] On January 31, 2024, a superseding indictment was filed, charging Peizer with additional counts of securities fraud and insider trading.
[79] On March 7, 2024, Judge Fischer denied Peizer’s motion to dismiss, holding that the government had alleged facts sufficient to give rise to a charge of insider trading.
[1] On June 21, 2024, he was convicted and found guilty by a Los Angeles, California, federal jury of three counts of insider trading and securities fraud, following a nine-day trial.